Sunday, August 9, 2015

Good Reads Description: Breestlin cannot escape her destiny to become
ruler of her father's kingdom, but she never planned to become queen at
twenty-three years of age. Upon the return of her first love, Rowan, Bree must
quickly learn how to adapt to both her new responsibilities as a ruler and her
inability to suppress her feelings for Rowan. To make matters more difficult,
her outcast uncle, Silas, has declared himself to be the rightful heir of
Junacave and will stop at nothing to get what he desires. This forces Bree to
seek the assistance of the wizard, Dagan, who in a twist of fate discovers much
more about his family (and himself) than he could ever imagine.

Romance and danger await, as we journey through Everealm, the first book of the
Everealm Series.

Disclaimer: I receive an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an
honest review. If you have not yet read this book, please read it before
reading this review, for there are spoilers present. And this will be the
LONGEST review I have ever written!

Characters/Plot: Bree is the lovely new queen of Everealm. Rowan is Bree’s childhood friend, with whom she shared her first kiss. This is the first book in the Everealm series and it follows Bree as she takes on the role as queen after her father’s death. Rowan, the son of the First Knight, Sir Nicholas, is in training to become a knight himself. However, Cupid strikes, causing quite a scandal, and the former ruler of Everealm appoints Rowan as a spy in the military, in hopes of protecting his daughter’s reputation. Bree, though she tries to move on, is still in love with Rowan, and she often hopes to see him, but does not know how she will react to his presence. By and by, you notice little clues that Rowan and Bree still have feelings for each other. And Bree has a bit of a secret . . . :3 Also, there are sparks in every direction that you turn.

Dagan, the grandson of the kingdom’s former wizard, a wizard himself, feels fusion with the lovely Sidonie. Sidonie’s sister, Adelphie, has firm opposition against doers of magic, and she sees Dagan as the enemy. In hopes to keep the courtship hidden, Bree asks her one of her childhood friends, Finnley, to keep Adelphie distracted. Right off the bat, the two cannot stand each other, but when the cat is out of the bag, Finnley and Adelphie form a bit of a bond.

The enemy in this book is Silas, king of Sire. Silas is a very harsh character, and the book jumps to his kingdom, his queen, Vallica, his mistress, whom he calls Red; his right-hand man, Simon; and Dahlia, his daughter. These characters all take very important roles in the books. Simon and Dahlia are sent out to fulfill Silas’ request to murder the young queen, Bree. Dahlia has a more . . . nasty character than Simon does. Simon is actually Vallica’s lover. A very mixed up kingdom, I know. And as it turns out, Bree’s mother, Cicily, used to be one of Silas’ play-thing, if you can catch the drift. Silas is also Bree’s uncle, on her father’s side. Oh, and Dahlia’s name is actual Ethel, Bree’s cousin. And there is a disgusting wizard in Silas’ employ. Beware of him. Beware of Vallica.
The plot is targeted towards a more adult-ish audience, and it brings the fantasy aspect to a completely new level. It is a total win-win. It leaves you on the edge of your seat!

My Honest Opinions/Thoughts: I am in love, which is all I can say. The first paragraph won me over. I may have found a new favorite ship, or two, or three, or four. ♥ I was able to read this book thoroughly, though I had a few interruptions, but I was able to pick right back up where I had left off. It is rare that a book does that to me, in terms of books that I have not read before. I overlooked some parts, but I was able to keep going without feeling dismayed. I am definitely going to move on to the next book, and I look forward to the third book as well. This book has me on fangirling overload. I am actually going to be reading it again; I love it so, so much.

Extra: I
have a little fantasy going in my head. I am visualizing how I think the
characters look. Here are some images/gifs to help you visualize with me.

First Kiss From The Prologue

Bree as she sees Rowan again after so many years.

Rowan at the ball as he watches a dancer.

Dagan - Character-wise

Dagan's physique . . . . ♥

Finnley (you might not see it, but I just think of him)

Excerpt: Breestlin remembered her first
kiss as if it were fresh on her lips. She took a deep breath and thought back,
to a beautiful day in early spring. She was sitting outside on a stone bench of
the castle terrace in her father’s kingdom. The leather book in her hand was
heavy, and filled with romantic stories of star-crossed lovers and tales of
wild adventure. For a girl of 14 years of age, this book was both scandalous
and marvelous at the same time.

The sun was beaming down on her thick auburn
hair, neatly braided and tied round with beautiful silk ribbons of violet. The
ribbons matched her gown, which was gathered into her lap to prevent it from
touching the damp stone below. She was reading so intently that she was able to
drown out the birds chirping and occasional voices from the servants buzzing
around the castle. Her books provided an escape of sorts from her busy and
demanding life as the only daughter of King Frederick II, the ruler of
Junacave. Being constantly guarded in the kingdom had left little capacity for
real adventure or romance, leaving the stories in her books as her only refuge
and sanctuary.

Bree was taken out of her peaceful trance by
the sudden sound of an object whizzing past her left ear. Startled, she dropped
her book to the ground and fell backward off of the bench, her skirts flailing
about during the fall. The soft grass behind her eased the landing a bit, but
her head was dizzy as she sat up. She quickly tried to compose herself, pulling
her skirts down to cover her now bare legs. Looking around, she saw an arrow
poking up from the ground, several feet behind her, which must have been the
object that flew by just moments ago. She heard footsteps coming toward her and
shouting from a distance as she tried to stand.

A hand reached out and grabbed her arm
firmly, lifting her to her feet. Bree looked up into a familiar face and
couldn’t help but frown. Rowan was standing in front of her, his face less than
a foot away from hers with soft brown eyes. One corner of his thin mouth curled
up into what could only be described as a beautiful smirk. He was almost a foot
taller than her, and at nearly 16 years old, was looking more like a man than a
boy every day.

Of course, training for knighthood at the
hands of your father, the first knight of the king, was bound to make any boy
strong and lean. He was wearing a tunic, untucked and untied, hanging over the
top of his brown trousers, both of which were dirty from training outside.

Having known Rowan all of her life, Bree had
only recently become aware of the change that she felt when he was nearby.
Before, she had mostly felt annoyance at his presence, but suddenly his
familiar face was intriguing, and his tall, solid build was mesmerizing. She
had purposefully avoided any conversation with him over the past several
months. She constantly felt foolish when she was near him and a princess
absolutely cannot be made a fool.

About the AuthorWriting has always been a hobby of mine,
beginning as a young child. It was a way to cope with losing my father at seven
years of age. I started with poetry and was featured several times on the
amazing poetry blog, Autumn Leaves, by Sondra Ball. My love for poetry soon led
to writing songs in middle school and beyond, which I still do occasionally.
Music has always been an important part of my existence, so writing songs came
naturally to me. In high school, I started my own novel, however, life got in
the way and I never finished it.Fast forward many years later and I find myself
married with three children, absorbed in my busy life with commitments to my
family, work, school, church, and charities, among other things. One day I came
across my old binder, with notes from my first novel, and it was with those
notes that I conjured up the elusive Everealm.I write to please readers such as myself, who
have a love for fantasy and romance, but like a little danger and sex in their
reading. I wrote the book with a mature audience in mind, who can appreciate a
hearty imaginary world with magic and the unknown, but want more than fluffy
love stories with wizards in them. They want the romance, magic, and danger,
all wrapped into one.

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About Me

I am a blogger, an author, a reader, a big sister to 15+ kids, and I live on an island in between the Atlantic and the Caribbean, which I like to call Invisible Island.

I am not the average blogger/writer. I go through a lot to get things done, and sometimes they are not always what I think they are. I have to check, and re-check to make sure it is up to par. Dyslexia is not easy, but God is faithful.